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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mhd" data-source="post: 1504922" data-attributes="member: 16805">It seems that what the ranger was for 3.0 turns out to be the sorcerer for 3.5...I don't think that earlier spell level access is that great. Might be better if the psion is included in the balance of classes, but just between a wizard and a sorcerer (especially non-specialists), the sorc is just too good, now. With bonus feats added, it's all about spell selection and spontaneous casting. And classes need more differences than that. Kinda resembles the old ranger homebrews with bonus fighter feats...Spell merging is too powerful. High-level spells often easily trump the lower ones, and if you just require the sum of spell levels to be equal, it's way to cheap. Especially if you insert  e.g. a Ring of Wizardry I into the equation. It shouldn't be that easy to churn out spells of your highest level.What about some kind of "raw metamagic" mechanic? By expending spells slots of the same level, you can add a metamagic feat for free. The number of additional slots equals the metamagic level increase, e.g. for just four 3rd-level slots, you get a maximized fireball. Certainly not that overpowered, as the combined damage of four normal fireballs should turn out to be better. The main advantage would be versatility -- and the fact that you can play around with metamagic without having available higher level slots. One might drop the required full-round action for this, so for just seven slots you'd be able to quicken.Spell merging basically is just one step away from a spell point system, which again is good for bumping the sorc up to the psion, but leaves the wizard behind. And some campaigns might never even include psionics, so there's a lot of balancing against something that potentially never exists. In this case I'd rather take the psion down a notch.4+Int skill points is a reasonable choice. Emphasises the fact that magic is second nature to the sorceror, so he doesn't have to spend as much time with his spells and thus is more wordly. On the other hand, one might think of them as even more wrapped up in arcane mysteries, spaced out, out of touch etc.I'd rather go for d6 hit dice. Or maybe even both, cf. Monte Cooks Eldritch Might (2) Sorcerer.What about familiars? It always kinda bothered me, that both Wizard and Sorcerer have different approaches to magic, but have the same kind of supernatural bond to animals? I thought about restricting familiars to sorcerers, but that Necromancer just needs an Imp on his shoulder. Well, he still could have access to Improved Familiar, he just wouldn't get the animal freebies.</blockquote>

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